The Special and the Wretched
by WishingWell414
Summary: Her plan was so perfect, nothing could go wrong. But obviously something did, now she has a choice the people she calls her friends or...greatness, and she knows her decision, and it's the wrong one.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or any of its characters **

**Rated T, this chapter has language, suicide, abuse, and is pretty dark. After this all the chapters will be a little nicer. **

**Prologue **

Esmeralda wailed a cry of pure agony and fell onto the dirty forest floor.

Simon or as she liked to call him "the jerk who beats me up every day just for the fun of it" hissed and shook his hand. "Bitch, now my hand hurts." His blue eyes flashed menacingly, she could tell he was in a bad mood today, and when he was angry he hurt her more.

His friends all laughed, breaking the silence of the quiet forest behind the small town, one of them even threw in a kick for good measure, probably trying to impress Simon.

"I think we should stop before we kill her." One of his friends said kneeling next to her, examining her bloody face, dangling the cigarette in his mouth

"Why faggot you worried about hurting you little girlfriend?" Simon asked stepping back before running forward to connect his foot to her stomach

Esmeralda's cries of pain were muffled as she buried her face to the leaves on the forest floor

"No," the boy blushed annoyed that anyone could have thought that the mental retard could be his girlfriend "We've done enough, if the cops show up we'll be in trouble," he pointed out

Simon sighed jutting out his bottom lip "Let's go boys." He motioned

The boy who had spoke out looked at Esmeralda who was lying on the ground resembling a corpse with pity "Good luck retard." He muttered dropping his cigarette on the floor

Esmeralda coughed violently sputtering up blood mixed with vomit. She gasped for air taking a look at her surroundings. Everything was red, it was kind of pretty actually, she thought. Sinking back down onto the floor still trying to suck in air.

She jerked up ignoring the pain that shot through her entire body, and she realized with a horrifying realization that she couldn't. She tried to stare at a tree, blinking the bleariness out of her eyes, and she realized the "pretty" red color was a fire. She shrieked horrified, trying to scramble back only to hit her back against a tree.

She groaned loudly, sobbing and gasping for air, as the fire seemed to close in on her.

"Help me please! Anyone!" she shrieked sobbing, covering her nose and mouth with her hand

Arnold stared nervously out the window awaiting his daughter's return, she was never out this late never. He prayed to Nyx his daughter's mother to please return her safely, he didn't know what he would do without her. He whimpered nervously, dropping onto the couch petrified, oh god what if his daughter didn't return what would he do than? He shook the feeling off, she would return she would not just leave him like that…not like the way Nyx did. His eyes widened almost in a comical sort of way, but she was Nyx 's daughter, they were the same in almost everyway both appearance and personality.

His large hands shook as he thought of this, his daughter wasn't coming back, she probably ran away, she probably hated him, because she thought he was the worst father ever. His eyes filled up with tears, his daughter hated him, and she had left him just like her mother did. He stared out the window at the beautiful night sky, who he knew was associated with his love, Nyx.

"My daughter hates me." He whispered to the night closing his eyes stopping the tears from leaking down. "She left me, just like you did."

Slowly Arnold got up, walking like a zombie to the kitchen. He pulled open one of the drawers, and dug through it fumbling around his hands shaking like a leaf caught in the breeze. He pulled out a sharp knife, starring at the tip.

"My daughter left me, just like her mother." He whispered before putting the knife to his throat and closing his eyes.

The men who had volunteered to stop the forest fire, which was probably started by reckless teenagers, were not surprised by the damage it had brought. Forest fires were very normal for the small town due to wild parties, drunk and smoking teenagers, and natural causes. What they were surprised by was what they heard during the fire. The screams and cries they heard would haunt them for the rest of their life they knew that much. One of the men had been able to track down the source of the noise, and to his horror it was a twelve year old girl. When they found her she had been near several trees that were all burned to a crisp, it was a miracle this girl had survived. Nearly her entire body was red and raw from burns some worst than others, she had obviously been through more than a fire based on the injuries on her body but she had simply stared at them with lifeless eyes when they had asked what happened. "I want my father." She had said in a thick German accent, which was the only thing she had said in the 5 hours that had pasted. They had tried everything from telling her that to find her father they would need to know his name and even tried to give her toys, but it was just the same four words "I want my father". Briefly one of the younger nurses had wondered if this girl was slow, but she quickly wiped the thought out of head scolding herself for thinking that way of a child she did not know.

Thirteen hours later she had finally spoke her second phrase "My father is dead…isn't he?" she asked her face emotionless. Everyone had tried to reassure her, and comfort her but she would here nothing. She did not cry, she did not have a fit, and she had showed no emotion, she had simply closed her eyes and laid her head against the white pillow in the hospital.

A week had pasted and the girl has said nothing, they did not know her name, nor anything about her, she had said nothing except for those two heartbreaking sentences. No one knew what to do with the girl, they had put up posters and discovered that the girl's father had committed suicide, a day later they decided she would be put into the town orphanage once her wounds healed. When they told her she had nodded and pointed at the mirrors. The nurse had brought her the mirror, glad to get some sort o reaction out of her. The girl stared at the mirror for what has seem like hours, she had seen the burns on her arm and knew that what she would see in the mirror would not be pretty. But she was not prepared for this, burns and scars were everywhere, on her arms, her legs, her back, her neck, even certain parts of her face were not spared. She stared at her reflection tears threatening to spill out.

"Leave me alone, please." She croaked and the nurse nodded used to getting this reaction from patients, what she was not used to was before she left she could have sworn the girl had whispered "The gods, the gods they did this to me."

An hour later the nurse had come back to check on her opened the door to find an empty room, and a smashed mirror, she did not scream for the doctors or even react, she had smiled because somewhere in her head she knew this was going to happen. She stared at the open window revealing the foggy night sky and closed the door.

**This is my SYOC story, only my character is in the prologue the next chapter all the submitted characters will appear.**


	2. New friends or enemies

**Disclaimer: Me no own any books especially Percy Jackson and any of it's characters.**

**Rated T, violence, and one of the characters is a bit of a womanizer. **

**Chapter 1: New friends…or enemies**

Beth Sarafti couldn't help but crinkle her nose in disgust as she watched Alec Hawthorne stick his tongue down some poor girl's throat.

"Isn't that Kyle's girlfriend?" Amphitryon Stark or as everyone called him Amp asked as he took a sip out of his can of coke

"Oh…here comes angry boyfriend right now." Esmeralda chuckled darkly, watching as a dark haired boy come up Alec and scream into his face, who smirked back and responded coolly

"5 bucks Kyle kicks his butt." Amp said

"No way, did you see Alec at training yesterday he took down that Ares camper in 30 seconds." Beth shook her head glancing at Amp

"Alec wins." Esmeralda commented as Kyle fell on the ground from the punch Alec gave him, the girl that Alec had been making out with screamed and ran to her boyfriend's side who pushed her away angrily

"Nothing like the good ol drama of Camp Half-blood." Amp muttered handing over the 5 bucks to Beth before chugging down the can of coke

"Alec Hawthorne, son of Thanatos he would be a strong warrior, he has seen many things that most people should never have to see, he would be a interesting in the group." Esmeralda smirked in Beth and Amp's direction

Beth stared at her horrified and in disbelief "No, just no, why _him_?" She gestured at the son of Thanatos

"I have me reasons, and with luck you will never know about them." Esmeralda winked in their direction

"How could he help with our plan-"

"I think it's time to break the fight up." Esmeralda interrupted Amp jumping up from the bleachers

"Since when does Gypsy break fights up?" Beth hissed to Amp

"When she's hiding something." Amp muttered crushing the coke can in his bare hands before throwing it into the nearest trash can before following Esmeralda

"Fight's over." A voice yelled

Alec froze in mid punch dropping Kyle onto the ground. He turned and couldn't help but crack up by what he saw. A girl with ebony colored hair and a thin frame stood, she probably would have been considered hot and one of the girls he'd hit on if she hadn't been covered in burns and scars, making her look deformed. She stood stiffly with her arms crossed and an emotionless expression on her face as she observed him.

"How are you going to stop me?" Alec smirked at the girl

"Gypsy, I really don't think we should get involved with this." The girl next to her said, who Alec recognized as Beth or Blondie, daughter of Aphrodite

"That's exactly why I'm getting involved." 'Gypsy' rolled her eyes at her before turning back to him "Fight's over." She said more forcefully

"What are you going to fight me?" Alec laughed amused at the idea, but clenching his fist, rule number one in battle never underestimate your enemy

"No, I don't believe in violence." She said running her hands through her hair, he stared at her baffled. 'Didn't believe in violence?' How was that possible?

"Are you kind of hall monitor or something? Cause last time I checked this camp doesn't have one." Alec said looking into her black eyes that resembled the night sky

"Hmn…" she pursed her lips as if she were thinking about something "I'm not a hall monitor, I'm just worried about your safety." She said her voice resembling bells

"My…safety?" Alec asked bewildered, he had jumped off buildings, murdered people, a little fight wasn't going to hurt him, out of the corner of his eye he could see Blondie starring at him with concentration on her face, he knew what she was doing, she had control over people's emotions when she concentrated hard enough

"Yes, we wouldn't want to ruin that pretty little face of yours with scars like mine now would we?" she teased

"I'm not afraid of pain, I am a son of Thanatos I am a reincarnation of death, I could kill you right now if I wanted to, now go before I give you even more scars." Alec said narrowing his eyes, knowing something was up. He heard Blondie sigh and mutter something to the muscular guy standing next to her, at least now he knew what he was feeling was all on his own

"I'm not afraid of death, in fact it's something I wish could have caught up to me a long time ago." She said absolutely no emotion in her voice or face, than she sighed as if he were a child she was scolding "You know perfectly well what you're afraid of…don't you?" she asked tilting her head to the left slightly and he couldn't help but do they same thing as he stared into her eyes, he saw stuff he never wanted to think of again his uncle getting shot, he watched as the blood seem to pour out of his wound, as if it was right in front of him, Marco falling to his death, all of those memories and fears that had been buried in the dark for so long seemed to resurface

"What did you just do?" He yelled furious shaking his head

She smirked "You would be a good addition… there is good in you Son of Thanatos, even if you do not see it or know of it, there is good, you will be confused… but in the end you will choose the right side." She nodded appreciatively at the last two words "Get some ice on that, and don't cheat on your boyfriend again he's a nice guy." She said to the girl he had been making out with, Amy…or was Bertha?

"Here let me help you." The Blondie said pushing past him and running to Kyle who still laid on the floor with Bertha, he was almost certain it was Bertha who was sobbing and throwing a fit

"Thank you…daughter of Nyx." Bertha managed to gasp between her pathetic sobs

'A daughter of Nyx?' He thought bewildered, he didn't know there was a daughter of Nyx.

"What the Hades did you do?" Jett Ashwood, son of Zephyrus screamed at Esmeralda who stared at him blankly "I thought you said we were suppose to keep a low profile!" he roared

"Did I do something wrong?" Esmeralda asked innocently closing her eyes, and ignoring all the stares that they were getting, they were in the arena after all which happened to be filled with half-bloods "I decide to pay my good friend Jett a visit, and I get yelled at." She frowned

"You know perfectly well what you did! 'Keep a low profile', that's what you tell us, well stopping a fight between two of the most violent guys at camp isn't considered keeping a low profile!" Jett growled his hands shaking

"Last time I check you don't talk to me that way." Esmeralda shot back at him her black eyes darkening even more, if that was possible

He paused and managed to take a few deep breaths calming himself down "Sorry, lost control of my temper." He muttered stabbing the dummy and ripping the stuffing out

"Well the great Jett, apologizing to me, I should feel honored." She teased placing her hand on her heart

Jett barked out a laugh and just like that all the anger was gone

"And last time I checked you taking a picture of Chiron with curlers in his tail because of a dare, isn't keeping a low profile or you showing your wonderful "charm" that we love so much to the Ares kids wasn't keeping a low profile either, actually now that I think about it I was the only one who kept a low profile up until now." Esmeralda stared at the clouds in the sky as she pondered

"I get it, okay, I was wrong to yell at you oh powerful leader." He rolled his eyes "Why? Why did you help Kyle? What were your motives?" he asked grabbing the water bottle and sitting on the grass in the arena with his legs crossed

"My motives? Why can't I just do something nice and not be questioned?" Esmeralda frowned and scrunched her eyebrows together taking a seat next to him

"Because I know you and you're selfish, cunning and intelligent maybe but selfish...it's really a miracle you actually shared your plan with us." He snickered

"I'll try not to feel offended by that, but you're right I do have motives I believe I have just found the seventh member to out little group." She smirked

"Kyle?" he asked

"No you idiot!" she hissed slapping him across the head "Alec, the son of Thanatos!"

The water bottle hit the grass with a thud splashing water everywhere, he gaped at her mouth wide opened "You're-you're kidding right?" he spluttered

"Nope." She said popping the P, wiping some of the water off her shoes

"But why now? He's been here forever." He said still not able to get over the fact that _Alec_was going to be part of their plan

"Why not now? I've actually noticed him for a long time, now's just a time to act on it."

"So only one more person left to go after Alec…than the group will be complete and the plan will be put into action?" He asked excitement seeping through his voice unable to believe the plan was going to be put into action after so long

"I think I have the last person handled." Esmeralda bit her lip nervously and glanced at him

"I'm going to hate that person aren't I?" he sighed as he studied the look on Esmeralda's face, she nodded still chewing on her bottom lip

"Ella Rose, daughter of Apollo." She muttered

He stared at her unsure if he should be mad or annoyed, 'of course', it just had to be a child of Apollo didn't it, everyone knew he hated children of Apollo, even putting him in the same room with them was a bad idea.

"The plan better be perfect." He muttered pulling at the grass and letting the wind blow the grass on his hand away

"It will be, trust me." Esmeralda said

He smiled bitterly "I don't trust anyone." He raised an eyebrow "Not since…" he paused, but he really didn't have to go on she knew what he was going to say not since Mariah died, she should have known better than anyone with that little gift of hers.

"Me neither, but we have to for this plan to work." Esmeralda returned to stare at the sky again

"Why did you choose us?" he asked suddenly breaking the silence "Blondie, Amp, Superman, Kat, Alec, Ella, me? We have nothing in common. You could very easily perfect this plan by yourself, why us?"

"Maybe because I was lonely. Maybe because I didn't want to succeed alone." Esmeralda whispered

"I don't believe you." Jett said looking at her "You like solitude."

"I also liked the gods once." She said getting up and brushing the grass off her jeans

"Tell me, please, I want to know what is so special about me that out of the two hundred kids at Camp Half-blood you choose me." Jett said

"Because each of you have something I don't have courage, creativity, selfless, fearless, honor, trust and beauty." She smiled at him gently, a real smile not that stupid smirk that seemed to be always on her face

"Be ready for the plan to begin, you know your part." She said her smirk coming back "As for me I need to do some recruiting."

Nicholas Ashton or Superman as everyone insisted on calling him sat at the Selena table alone moving his corn around the bowl with his fork.

"Superman, I need your help." Esmeralda demanded sliding into the seat

"What are you doing?" he hissed glancing around, he had only been involved in the "plan" for a week, making him the newest recruit but he knew what his instructions were 'Keep a low profile', and he knew that what Esmeralda had done today did not count as a "low" profile "First you stop a fight-" he began

"Yeah, yeah I know I didn't keep a low profile, I already got the lecture from Jett, and point is I have the last recruits." She said impatiently glancing around as if she feared someone may be listening in

"Was that what the whole playing hero thing was about?" Nicholas asked

She scoffed "You know me better than that, Superman, I would never do anything unless it was for my own selfish reasons." And she was right even though he had only been apart of the "plan" for a week he had already known Esmeralda better than anyone else did, maybe it was because they both got stronger during the night

He stared at is food as he swirled them around leaving a trail of sloppy wet corn juice "Let me guess you want me to play sidekick and help you recruit."

"Nope, I want you to recruit along with your little girlfriend, her name is Ella Rose, daughter of Apollo, normally I would send Beth or I would do it personally but Beth has done more than enough today." He couldn't help but blush at the girlfriend part, he had obviously know what she had meant, Katarina Montez, Hephaestus' kid, sometimes he felt like she was purposely trying to force them together, and the thought made him uncomfortable, not because a girl was messing with his love life, but because whenever Esmeralda did something "nice", it was only for her own reasons, and her own reasons only

He sighed dropping the fork onto the plate of corn slosh "How do you want me to handle this?" he asked

"Confront her, befriend her, and convince her to pay a visit to headquarters after lights out." She shrugged "The rest will be up to the hospitality of our group." She grimaced at the word hospitality, one of the things that the group lacked

He nodded permanently branding the words into his mind, Esmeralda was like the oracle, every word she said had a double meaning like a riddle, and head quarters was the small space behind the bathrooms and showers, which always reeked of…well the bathroom

"Yes because I'm sure bringing her to the bathroom will be a real deal breaker." Nicholas nodded at her

"Shut up, nerd." She said pushing him slightly knocking his glasses askew "Just get her to come…please."

He nodded "Will do, why is that you can't personally go and talk to this Ella girl?" he asked hesitating

She stared at him, as if deciding whether or not she should tell him something "Let's just say I might need to spend some more time on one of the recruits than I needed to with you guys." She said furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, something he found she did a lot

"Is that suppose to scare me?" he asked bewildered

She smirked "Very, just handle Ella."

So, that was how Nicholas ended up with Katarina trying to squeeze into a camp sing along, pretending that they actually belonged here…it didn't work in case you didn't figure it out yet.

"Are you lost…this is the bonfire, you know where Apollo kids sing?" a blonde hair guy had asked them

"We know." Kat blushed grabbing onto Nicholas' arm and pulling him through the crowd

"Do we have any idea what this Ella girl even looks like?" he whispered feeling out of place

"…I thought you knew!" Kat exploded than turning even redder as everyone stared

Nicholas pouted his eyes resembling one of a puppies "What are we suppose to do?" he asked

"Stand here and hope she pops up?" Kat shrugged

"Ella!" a voice screamed

Nicholas couldn't help but grin goofily at Kat "Looks like luck is on our side, come on." He motioned following the speaker of the voice

It turns out Ella was a girl with light brown hair, violet eyes, light freckles scattered across her nose, and a body like a tiny elf, the girl could not have been more than 4 foot 10.

She was surrounded by people that were obviously all her friends, laughing like there was absolutely nothing wrong with the world.

"I'm guessing that's Ella." Nicholas said looking at her, trying to decide why Esmeralda had thought that the small girl would be a good addition to the group

Kat stared at her obviously wondering the same thing "Is Esmeralda only letting her in to annoy Jett?" she asked unable to believe that such a small and delicate person could be of value to their group

"No, Esmeralda wouldn't do that, she has her reasons for doing everything." Nicholas shook his head still trying to comprehend what he was seeing, he could literally hear Esmeralda next to him whispering 'You're underestimating her, that's how you're going to end up with a knife in your gut.' She would than punch him in the gut to prove her point and crack up

"We're underestimating her." Nicholas muttered before striding over to her ask confident as he could manage without the moon fully up

When they came about 6 feet away from her they realized why Esmeralda had chosen her she had a golden bow in her hand that was beautifully crafted, she had pulled the string back and let the arrow fly hitting an apple who was resting on another Apollo's kid head at least 30 yards away, yeah she was that good.

Kat raised her eyebrows feeling bad for underestimating the girl "Looks like you got some competition, Superman." She nudged Nicholas

He chuckled "Seems so."

At this point Ella realize that she was being watched, she whirled around aiming her arrow at Nicholas and Kat who looked like deer caught in the headlights

"Don't move or I will shoot." She smiled playfully to let them know she was joking, she lowered her bow and arrow "Ella Rose, at your service how can I help you new comers at the bonfire?" she chirped happily as her bow shrunk down until was a gold locket that she threw over her neck

"My name is Kat, daughter of Hephaestus and this is Nicholas son of Selene but we call him Superman." Kat introduced

"And we actually have a very, very important job for you." Nicholas grinned

"If you want it." Kat added blushing

"Uh sure, but the sing alongs about to start so give me a few minutes." She said happily before disappearing in her crowd of friends

Kat paled "She's not really going to make us wait here is she?" she asked glancing around at the big crowd of people

Nicholas shrugged "Want a marshmallow?" he asked grabbing a skewer and a white, fluffy marshmallow

Kat stared "Sure." She shrugged thinking 'If we're stuck here might as well make the best of it.'

Esmeralda was beautiful, but in a dangerous and harsh way more like a black widow or a cobra before it struck its enemy. She would even be considered hot or stunning but she was deformed, the burns and the scars were everywhere disfiguring her figure and skin. Her facial features were pretty with high cheek bones, pink full lips, and her eyes were huge resembling an owl's, surrounded by long eyelashes. Her dark ebony colored hair was everywhere looking like it had never seen a brush in its life. She had a thin and lean frame that had almost no curves making her resemble a stick. Her skin was a sickly pale color, revealing all her veins, and making her burns and scars even worst. She was wearing a white hoodies, skinny jeans, and combat boots covering nearly all the visible scars on her body except the burn marks on her neck, making her look deformed. Her black eyes that were so dark you couldn't tell apart the pupil from the iris, they darted around the room taking everything in before landing on him. She tilted her head to the right, something he had found she did a lot as her eyes bored into his. She looked like she was going to make a move and talk to him, but oddly enough she simply sat down her eyes never leaving his.

"Alec." The girl he had been flirting with hissed impatient

He clenched his jaw annoyed at the girl "Do you know anything about the daughter of Nyx?" he asked curious

"The daughter of Nyx?" the girl said bewildered "Not much, I know her name is Esmeralda, and she's positively hideous with those scars." She scrunched her nose in disgust as she looked in her direction "Although no one knows much about her, except for this rumor…" she paused her eyes glowing that she had managed to capture Alec Hawthorne's interest, of course she had planned to do it another way but if talking about the ugly duckling kept him around she would do it

"A rumor?" he wondered raising his eyebrows

"Yeah, everyone's been talking about it. Apparently she's been recruiting, for her 'plan', those people following her around are all suppose to be hand picked by her to do some kind of job." She lowered her tone

"What job?"

"No one knows, but it's something big, why else would the half-bloods all be so excited and jumping to join her group?" she wondered

"How do you join?" Alec asked unable to help himself

The girl bit her lip nervously and shrugged "No one knows, but apparently she chooses half-bloods who she believes is 'worthy', but I wouldn't worry it's probably just a load of bull anyway."

Alec nodded but couldn't help but feel slightly jealous, if there was some kind of elite club for special and powerful half-bloods than he should really already be in it…right?

"So…what do you say we go to my cabin, my siblings are all out, so it'll just be us." She whispered battling her fake eyelashes at him

He stared at her in disgust "I have a better plan." He whispered seductively in her ear, the girl nodded eagerly making eyes at him "You go back to your cabin and cry to your siblings while I go and flirt with another girl." He said watching as the eager smile dropped off her face replaced by a frown, as he got up and walked away

He heard a sigh and footsteps walking along with him "I thought you were never going to ditch her." The voice sighed

He turned and saw the girl he had been talking about "Esmeralda, daughter of Nyx." He acknowledged

"You've heard of me." She raised an eyebrow at him making her eyes seem even bigger

"Hmn, I've also heard about your little group of special half-bloods." He muttered stopping

"My little group?" she asked freezing, and for a second he could have sworn he saw fear in her eyes, but just as quickly as he saw it, it was gone "Never mind, I have an assignment for you."

"Let me guess, you've finally realized that your little group could not survive without me, and decided you want me in your brilliant group?" he raised an eyebrow at her

"Actually precisely." She grinned at him

"Let me think about it…no." he told her, to his surprise the grin didn't even waver

"How about we make a friendly little bet?" she smirked rubbing a golden drachma between her thumb and index finger

"One drachma?" he asked amused that the girl thought she could buy him with one pathetic little drachma

She smiled putting her index finger to her lips, with the other hand she reached into the pocket of her jeans pulling out a small red pouch, she grabbed his hand and placed the pouch in his hand, inside was a bunch of shiny gold drachmas and rolls of mortal cash.

"They'll be more of that." She grinned "So how about that bet?" she asked leaning against the wall, her eyes resembling a fox playing with its prey

"You know, bonfires aren't so bad." Kat said licking the white fluffy marshmallow off her fingers

"Yeah, I don't get why we never came to one, we're eating marshmallows, listening to music, we're under the moon…" Nicholas trailed off starring at the moon

"I'm back!" an energetic voice sang hopping over and sitting herself between Kat and Nicholas "Did you guys have fun?" Ella asked

"Unfortunately." Kat muttered staring at the pretty flames

"Guess that means we'll have to come back sometime." Nicholas grinned at Ella who grinned back

"That'll be great, what were you guys talking about giving me a job?" Ella looked at them expectantly

Kat cleared her throat uncomfortably and looked at Nicholas

"…You've heard of the daughter of Nyx right" he asked

"I've heard of her, I do not know of her personally." Ella stated bewildered

"Well she runs a group for half-bloods who are gifted, who are special." Nicholas said his words coming out clearly and smoother than it normally would in the daytime "And she thinks you're gifted enough to help with the plan."

"The plan?" Ella asked hooked

"It's amazing, strait from the mind of Esmeralda." Kat added

"We're not the best explainers of it, you can find out more if you come to headquarters after lights out." Nicholas said making it sound as persuasive as possible

"Headquarters?" Ella inched forward slightly

"The place behind the bathrooms and showers." Kat wrinkled her nose in disgust

"Oh…" Ella stated obviously turned off by the fact that headquarters was behind the restrooms

"Yeah ignore the fact that headquarters is behind the bathrooms, Esmeralda thought no one would go there so that's why she chose it." Nicholas stated

"So are you coming?" Kat asked hopefully

Ella bit her lip "I'll think about it." She said returning to her friends

"Well that went well, don't you think?" Nicholas sighed

Kat snickered loudly, returning to roasting marshmallows "You're kidding right?"

The bet was simple Alec and Esmeralda would have a duel if Alec won he would get the money if he lost he would have to join Esmeralda and follow along with her ''plan''. Obviously Alec knew something was wrong, Esmeralda was obviously in no place to fight, and he was a much better fighter. Esmeralda wouldn't stand a chance, but that was what was wrong, he knew enough about the girl to know that she wouldn't make any stupid or wrong decisions. So than he thought maybe she had some amazing power, but from what she had seen she only had that whole creepy bring back memories power. He could have won the fight easily if he wanted to, he could kill her if he wanted to being a son of Thanatos.

"Ready?" Esmeralda smirked holding twin daggers in her hands, ignoring the crowd that have formed around them to watch the fight

"Of course." He smirked back holding his mace in his hand

He had absolutely no idea what happened next because in the next second he was on the floor with Esmeralda standing over him

"You're going to try harder than that, if want to beat me." His smirk not even wavering, as he jumped up, he slammed his mace into the ground the spikes leaving angry marks on the earth, the ground started to shake and two skeleton warriors climbed out of a large crack from the floor

"You're cheating." Esmeralda narrowed her eyes, ignoring the horror of the crowd as the undead warriors walked over to her

"Anything goes. Give me the money and give up, and they'll leave you alone, maybe." His smirk grew larger

"I'm not a fighter, I do not believe in violence, but if that's what it takes to get you to join I will rip this entire camp apart if I have to." Esmeralda snarled and with one quick swipe one of the skeleton's head fell on the floor, the skeleton wandered around looking for its head. She did the same thing to the other one and grabbed both heads off the ground before darting away from them. She ran into the crowd much to his and the crowd's astonishment. He held his mace up glancing around. His mace slammed into the face skull that was thrown at him breaking into a bunch of little pieces, the second one nailed him in the gut. He picked up the head on the floor and threw it at one of the skulls who were still searching for their head, who attached it to his neck, before pushing through the crowd, who screamed horrified.

"That was a dirty trick!" he roared at the crowd

"Anything goes." Esmeralda laughed

"Come here, and fight!" He yelled

"Only if you make your friends go away!" came his reply, he sighed and snapped his fingers, the ground opened up swallowing the skeleton warriors and any remains of them

"Was that so hard?" a voice asked from his right, he whirled around slamming his mace against the speaker of the voice, it managed to hit her in the stomach blood poured out of the wound where the spikes had hit

"Ouch." Esmeralda commented dryly twirling her daggers in her hand, one hand pressed against the wound, the crowd let out a murmur watching the blood

"Payback." Alec said just as dryly

"Mmn than this is going to hurt even more!" she screamed and slammed into his side knocking him down, and he realized with a jolt she was holding back, she couldn't afford to hurt him, he didn't have the same issues

'Don't believe in violence huh?' he thought bitterly getting up and brushing dirt off his pants, Esmeralda smiled jumping back, the blood on her hoodie almost made him feel guilty, almost

"You want to know what you're flaw is?" Esmeralda asked him

"What?" he screamed back at her

"You're impulsive and you're heartless when it comes to battle, and that's going to destroy you one day!" she smirked

For some reason hearing his flaw rubbed him the wrong way, he charged at her which she easily avoided although losing so much blood was making her woozy so she almost tripped. They were both getting tired and they were both hurt.

"You know what's another thing I noticed about you is you have trust issues." She said dancing around him "That's why you're so violent and why you go through so many girlfriends you can't stand the idea of being hurt!"

He made a blind swipe in the air, his mace missing her head by a few inches making the crowd gasp, this wasn't about winning and getting money anymore all he wanted to do was shut her up

"Marco really did a toll on you didn't he?" she chuckled

"Don't talk about him!" he roared

"What? You don't like talking about your past, I don't either, something we have in common." She taunted

"We have nothing in common!" he screamed

"But we do." She insisted dropping her daggers on the floor as if to show she came in peace, he took this as a time to attack he lunged forward and tried to slam his mace against her head, she caught the mace in her small and bony hand. She hissed as blood came out of her palm and the spikes dug into her skin. The crowd gasped some girls closed their eyes. "So noble, attacking when your enemy is unguarded." She said pushing his mace back with an incredible amount of force knocking the wind out of him "I see something in you, don't make me regret it." She walked passed him picking her daggers off the ground which had turned into rings that she slid onto her finger

"Meet me behind the bathrooms and showers when lights are out." She whispered as she walked pass him, taking his hand and dropping the red pouch in it.

**Yup, the mystery unfolds, here's a chapter summary:**

**Esmeralda is my own character, who happens to have come up with a great plan that everyone is eager to watch unfold. She wants 8 people to begin the plan, and she finds the last two, Alec Hawthorne the son of Thanatos who is merciless and a womanizer, and Ella Rose the popular daughter of Apollo who holds mystery. Esmeralda purposely let Alec beat her up than gave him money, and Ella is unsure whether or not she should come to the meeting and learn more about the plan.**

**The other seven characters all belong to different authors. As the story continues Esmeralda will appear slightly less and the other seven characters will appear more, these are just the first few chapters so things need to be explained.**


	3. The lies unfold

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or any of it's characters**

**Rated T, for language, and self harm. **

**Chapter 2: The lies unfold**

Esmeralda squeezed her eyes shut and let out a hiss of pain, as Beth poured nectar onto her wounds.

"You idiot." Beth muttered wrapping a bandage around her hand "I can't believe you went through all of this just to get him to come to one stupid meeting."

Esmeralda grinned at her "It was worth it."

"No it wasn't Esmeralda, you let him hurt you, you have blood gushing out of your hand and stomach because of him, I know you want the plan to succeed more than any of us, but this isn't worth it." Beth argued passionately

"Calm down, Blondie I know what I'm doing." Esmeralda soothed patting her on the back

"Blondie is right, he's gone to far, if he even shows up I swear-"Amp began

"You will treat him like the valued guess he is." Esmeralda finished shooting a pointed look at him

"But-"

"I've recruited worst, remember Jett when we were trying to recruit him, gods that was a nightmare, started two hurricanes and knocked down some trees, I had wood nymphs hitting me with sticks for weeks after that." Esmeralda rolled her eyes

"Yep…that was horrible." Amp shivered

Beth giggled "I remember a particularly angry nymph beating you with a stick, and she won."

Amp pouted at her resembling a overgrown puppy "She was a girl, I wasn't going to hit her."

"Honey I'm home!" an obnoxiously loud voice screamed from the other side of the bathroom

Beth narrowed her eyes at the sound "Jett's back." She muttered

"I'm back, are the new recruits-"Jett began only to stop his eyes widening almost comically as he took in Esmeralda's bandaged hands "What happened?" he asked striding over to Esmeralda's side where he examined her wounds, even though he had absolutely no idea what he was doing

"Let's just say I finally found a recruit who was more violent than you." Esmeralda smiled

"What? What's that suppo-Alec did this didn't he? That ass-"

"Esmeralda already had that talk with me, apparently we're suppose to treat him like a valued guest." Amp spat bitterly

"You're kidding right? Look at her she's bleeding from her stomach, who knows if she internal damage or not?" Jett argued cracking his knuckled and glancing at the walls of the back of the bathroom occasionally

"Ella…might be coming-Whoa what the heck happened?" Nicholas ran in only to freeze mid step as he noticed the blood dripping on the floor

"Oh my gods." Kat muttered

"Yeah, yeah we already had this conversation Alec did this to me now calm down." Esmeralda sighed impatiently shooting the two half-bloods an impatient look that said if you argue I will hurt you

Nicholas and Kat looked at each other nervously, before wisely keeping their mouths shut

"Gods Ella better be coming soon, I don't know how to bandage a hand!" Blondie yelled frowning as she held up scraps of white cloth

"Yeah, about that." Kat laughed awkwardly refusing to meet Blondie's piercing glare

"She is coming right?" Blondie hissed holding up Esmeralda's badly bandaged hand for her to see

"She's not coming?" Jett asked sounding like a 5 year old that was just told Christmas had came everyday

"Shut up." Nicholas said shooting a pointed look at him "And she said she would think about it…that's a good thing right?"

Esmeralda groaned loudly slamming her hand on the table only to recoil as a new pain developed "Holy, oh gods holy crap that hurt." She winced as she held her hand to her chest

"Oh dear." Came a small soft voice from the entrance to "headquarters"

"Eww." Jett muttered walking into the smallest corner her could find and sitting down, choosing to watch the whole scene unfold

"Don't mind him, he hates all children of Apollo." Esmeralda grinned at her

"I know…he beat up my brother last month." Ella said awkwardly twiddling her thumbs before walking to Esmeralda "Gods, who bandaged this?" she asked unwrapping the tangled bandages

"Guilty." Beth blushed raising her hand

"Hmn." Ella hummed as she cleaned the now dried blood and placed new bandages on her wounds "There good as new, just don't do anything to dangerous for the next few day or at least hours so you don't reopen the wounds and cause some permanent…scars." Ella hesitated at the last word as she looked at Esmeralda who was already covered with burns and scars. Esmeralda shot everyone a look as if to say, see I know what I'm doing.

"Who did this to you anyway?" Ella asked curious while throwing the left over bandages away

Esmeralda scoffed "No one, I fell and landed on a watermelon, which exploded, and I-"

"You're a horrid liar." Ella pointed out

"The son of Thanatos did this." Amp spat

"Someone talking about me?" the incredibly annoying voice of Alec Hawthorne ran through the "headquarters"

Amp gritted his teeth, it was no secret that he hated bullies and Alec classified as a bully in his vocabulary, Beth put a hand on his chest and shook her head "Not now." She hissed

"You came!" Esmeralda smiled as if it was the greatest thing in the world

"Well after I took your money and gave you some internal damage I decided I should give your little society a chance." Alec said cockily looking around with distaste

"That's it! Come here, and I swear I'll rip your head off." Amp hissed jumping forward eager for a fight

"Stop, we will treat our guest with respect." Esmeralda muttered closing her eyes, only Nicholas saw her grit her teeth making him realize she wanted to kill Alec just as much as anyone else in this room, but she had to be nice because he was valuable.

"You gave him money too?" Jett asked furious

"It was my money, calm down." Esmeralda rolled her eyes

"No it was-" Amp began

"I hate to interfere but why am I here, because I got places to be and people to meet." Alec said interrupting which did not earn him brownie points from the other half-bloods in the room

"Right." Esmeralda chirped happily leaping up from the ground "Ella can I talk to you?" she asked "Alone please." She said sharply as 6 people jumped up waiting to accompany them

"Of course." Ella blushed following Esmeralda to the other side of the bathroom where they continued to walk farther and farther

"Superman told you about my plan right?" Esmeralda asked looking at the night sky

"He told me you had a plan…what is it anyway?" Ella asked walking along

"My plan…you know we have a lot in common." Esmeralda said turning sharply leading Ella into the woods and changing the subject

"How so?" Ella asked like a curious 5 year old

"Have you ever wondered how I got these scars?" Esmeralda glanced at Ella who nodded "It was because of the gods, Ella, the gods did this to me." She hissed "I used to be so innocent." For a second she closed her eyes as if she were remembering something "But not anymore…not since" she hesitated "Not since I was burned."

"Those scars, are bad." Ella muttered examining her

"No, not by fire." Esmeralda stated sharply "By pain and suffering."

Ella looked at her unable to keep herself from feeling sorry for her

"People like you and me, people who have already lost more than enough, people who have nothing more to lose, have to stick together." Esmeralda told her

"I haven't lost anything." Ella lied through her clenched teeth

Esmeralda smiled at her with an all knowing look "So your mother dying wasn't a lost? Or nearly getting mauled by a sphinx wasn't a lost?" she asked innocently continuing to lead Ella into the woods, they kept walking Ella refusing to say anything, she was aware that they were walking deeper and deeper into the woods "You know being the child of a god is what I like to call Fate's middle finger." She grinned at Ella as she just told the greatest joke in the world

"Fate's middle finger…that's my life sometimes." Ella muttered running her hands through her brown hair

"We have to stick together you understand right?" Esmeralda asked freezing in mid step to look Ella in the eye

Ella hesitated before answering "Yes…I do understand, now what's the plan?"

Esmeralda frowned at this "You have to past a test first." Esmeralda stated her eyes watery as if she was about to cry, the initiation ceremonies was one of those rare times when she actually showed emotion, when she reminded people that she was human and still had emotions

Ella raised her eyebrows at this unable to stop a shiver that passed through her body, something bad was going to happen she just knew it. They were in the middle of the woods and she had to past some "test" nothing good ever came out of that, haven't you ever watched those horror movies?

"Look me in the eye." Esmeralda ordered, and quite reluctantly Ella did. She couldn't help but gasp at what she saw, actually it wasn't what she saw, it was what she didn't see that shocked her. For some reason she had expected something maybe her eyes changed colors or maybe she had creepy demon eyes but there was…nothing.

She had obviously heard rumors about the daughter of Nyx. She had heard from one her siblings that Esmeralda was a murderer, that if you looked her in the eye you would see things you have buried in the dark, things that you keep so close to your soul no one else knows, that was when she would strike. Her brother had said that that was what had happened to the mortal who gave her those scars, she had killed him, and chopped him up they said. Of course Ella didn't believe rumors, she like to believe that she was better than that but she couldn't help but feel a little sad when she saw nothing but emptiness in Esmeralda's eyes.

"You don't believe in rumors, you don't let others change your opinion on things…that's good, you're going to need it to survive. But you are closed, you do not let other people figure you out, that's going to have to change." Esmeralda smirked before breaking eye contact and Ella felt relieved as if she was able to breathe again, maybe she was wrong maybe the daughter of Nyx did have some creepy power.

"We need to go back now, Alec still needs to be accepted." Esmeralda said with distaste

Ella couldn't help but scoff at that "The was you have been treating him I thought he would have a front row seat into your club."

"Appearances are deceiving darling." Esmeralda looked at her in a way that she felt inferior "I know his type, just like I knew how to tempt you into the group I know how to make him tick and comfortable, and kissing the ground he walks on is the way to do it." Esmeralda winked

Ella couldn't help but shake her head at her, and she thought she was confusing "You know through all this you still haven't told me the plan." Ella pointed out "I'm starting to doubt you even have a plan." Ella said frostily

"You know your very beautiful." Esmeralda said smoothly. Ella couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance.

"Stop changing the subject." Ella said narrowing her eyes

"But you are, your eyes they're almost violet in the moonlight. And your hair cropped short, a bold decision, you probably did it yourself with a pair of safety scissors. And your skin, so perfect, you have so little scars." Esmeralda said her eyes glazing over. This was the first time Ella started to wonder if maybe the daughter of Nyx had mental issues, is she wasn't stable.

"I think we should go back it's getting late." Ella gulped nervously

"But you haven't heard of the plan yet." Esmeralda whispered in a tone that sent chills down Ella's back "What would you say if I told you we could reverse time?" she lowered her voice even lower so Ella had to lean in to hear what she had to say

"Reverse time?" Ella asked her voice hushed and shaking "That's impossible, it's dark magic."

Esmeralda threw her head back and laughed, her laughter seemed to run through the woods waking the woods. It was slightly insane, and seemed almost harsh. "Who cares? We're all going to go to Hell someday, this way at least I die trying to reach my goals!" Esmeralda laughed but Ella couldn't help but feel that there was a twinge of sadness in her tone

"But I don't want to die, we'll go to the fields of punishment for this, this is bad." Ella stuttered paling realizing what this group was going to do, this defied the laws of nature

"Come on, don't you want to bring your mother back?" Esmeralda tempted her

"My mother would be ashamed of me if I was apart of your jacked up plan." Ella hissed

"Oh come on Ella you want this, be selfish you could have your mother back the normal life you always wanted." Esmeralda taunted

"What's in it for you?" Ella narrowed her eyes

Esmeralda smiled grimly before picking at the helm of her hoodie "Do you feel pain, Ella? Does it consume you and strangle you on the inside? Because that's what I feel everyday, I did something I am not proud of in the past, and I want-no I need to make up for it, because it brings me so much despair, to know that I am to blame, that is what is in it for me, fixing mine and everyone's mistakes." Esmeralda continued to smile though it seemed force and out of place on her scared face

"What did you do?" Ella asked timidly

"I'd rather not tell, are you in?" Esmeralda asked the smile turned into a frown and her gaze became hard and harsh

Ella looked at her hesitantly "My mother would come back right, I'd get to spend time with her?" Esmeralda nodded her head at this, yes "Than yeah, I guess I am."

"Great training starts tomorrow at noon, meet Jett at the arena." Esmeralda grinned

Ella sputtered at this "Training? With Jett!"

"Yes, it doesn't matter how great of a fighter you are, if you want to survive on this…journey you're going to have to go through special training, and what better teacher than your worst enemy?" Esmeralda grinned forcing the scars on her face to crinkle

"But-but-" Ella stuttered hopelessly

"But nothing, now if you have to excuse me I have to go talk to Alec." Ella couldn't help but notice that Esmeralda spat the name out as if it was tabooed. She wondered what the daughter of Nyx had against the son of Thanatos, maybe she didn't like him because he beat her up but Ella had a feeling it was much more than that.

"Let's go back. I'm sure you and the other 'recruits' will have a lot to talk about." Esmeralda said before turning swiftly and walking back. Ella sighed, really they walked all this way for nothing! "Oh and Ella." Esmeralda asked her voice dripping with fake sweetness "Tell anyone about the conversation we just had and I swear on the river of Styx I will hunt you down and drive my daggers through your heart, I swear."

* * *

><p>Ella couldn't help but feel uncomfortable as she sat on the ground of the small clearing behind the bathroom which up until about 2 hours ago she didn't even know existed. She had a feeling the other half-bloods were observing her but every time she looked they all went back to what they were doing. She felt a chill as she got the feeling that the daughter of Aphrodite and the son of Heracles were talking about her. As she sat on the dirty ground she couldn't help but reflect on the mind swirling conversation she had had with Esmeralda.<p>

Across the room she could hear Jett swearing and cursing as he worked on one of his "creations", Ella had absolutely no idea what it was but as long as it didn't come alive and eat her she didn't really care.

"You know you really shouldn't mind what Esmeralda says to you." The son of Heracles said, he was good looking and well built. He looked like an average jock with short golden blonde hair and sparkling green eyes, he was tall and towered over almost everyone, he looked like a normal college student. "Whatever she said to give you a heart attack don't mind, she may seem like a bad ass bitch who cares only about her self and at times she is completely cruel and-"

"You're point?" Ella asked

"His point is that deep, deep down Esmeralda does have a heart, and she is human." A pleasant voice said Ella turned to see the daughter of Aphrodite, who had bleach blonde hair in a braid, hazel eyes that were very pretty and captivating, she had light freckles on her nose, and a small birthmark over the left side of her upper lip. She was lean and tan and her lips were pulled up in a calm, slightly crooked smile. "This idiot is Amp." She gestured at the son of Heracles "And I'm Beth but everyone calls me Blondie."

"Ella daughter of Apollo." Ella acknowledged

"And you already know who we are." Nicholas grinned

"And the depressing guy who's brooding in the corner is Jett." Kat glanced at the son of Zephyrus who was still cursing and trying to get his invention to work

"So what did Esmeralda say to you?" Amp asked excitement creeping into his voice

Ella gulped at this as she remembered the daughter of Nyx's words "Oh you know…stuff."

"Lighten up I know big bad Esmeralda scared you but she's not here." Blondie winked

"Yeah Esmeralda is all bark and no bite." Amp grinned

Ella paled and shook her head she had a feeling that Esmeralda was more than capable of delivering her threat

"Give her a break guys, I remember when Esmeralda tried to get me to join the club, nearly pissed in my pants." Nicholas chuckled

Ella couldn't help but laugh at this and loosen up, everyone in this room had been through the same thing.

"I wonder how's it going with Alec?" Amp wondered

"If I know anything about Esmeralda, than I can probably guess that she got tire of kissing the ground he walked on and is now trying to kill him." Blondie snorted

Ella couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear for Alec, she had a feeling that Esmeralda was more than capable of killing someone.

* * *

><p>"Alec Hawthorne such a pretty name." Esmeralda commented leaning against the tiles of the bathroom wall, she was too tired to take another walk and she had a feeling this conversation was going to be tiring enough<p>

"Get to the point before I get bored and leave." Alec snarled annoyed with her games

Esmeralda sighed and pouted "Not very friendly are you?"

"I'm a son of Thanatos, did you expect me to be loving life and dancing around singing about rainbows and butterflies?" Alec narrowed his eyes at the girl "Get to the point." He said again "I don't like to repeat things, and if I get bored I just might quit this little game you have planned out in your head."

"This little game I have in my head could fulfill your dreams of respect and power! Whatever you want I could give you, I just need you to help me." She smirked her eyes seemed to darken until you couldn't seem to tell her pupils from her irises

"What do you know about what I want?" Alec narrowed

"I know a lot." She said her face blank, she turned and examined her nails before continuing "I know that you want to be the only god that people worship and fear, I know that you want to punish Marco, and I can give you that…" she sighed and put her lips next to his ear and whispered "All you have to do is join, and everything you want will be yours, all the power and respect in the world, all the women, you could be the one people admire, you could be great!" she hissed

He smiled and closed his eyes imagining a world where he would be god, where he would be feared and worshipped, his eyes fluttered open and he saw Esmeralda looking at him expectantly

"I'll do it. I'll join your little club."

She smirked and she obviously wasn't surprised, she knew he wouldn't be able to turn down her offer. He was probably the only person she would ever meet who was as cunning and self centered as her. "Meet me in the arena tomorrow, we're going to start training." She glanced at him

Alec scoffed "I don't need training."

"There are certain things in this journey that you are going to need to learn, wouldn't want you to die before out part the bargain is done now would we?" She cocked her head and looked at him with those weird too big black eyes

He gritted his teeth in annoyance "Fine I'll be there." He muttered before stalking off

* * *

><p>"What do you think of that new girl, Ella?" Beth asked Amp as she poured gulped down the bottle of water she had bought<p>

"She seems cool enough." Amp shrugged not really caring either way

Beth rolled her eyes and hummed quietly as she danced around the now empty "headquarters" completely aware of Amp's eyes following her every movement.

"Although the son of Thanatos he seems like trouble for us." Amp said his eyes never leaving Beth "Sometimes I don't get her motives, you know why include someone like him in our group."

"Well why not?" Beth asked stopping "They're alike in a lot of ways, but maybe letting a selfish bastard into the group isn't the best idea but…I've been with Esmeralda for a long time, I've realized that if you trust her everything will work out."

"Really cause I've been with her a long time to and I've realized that if you trust her you'll only end up with a knife in your back." Amp muttered

"I know sometimes Esmeralda seems complicated but her heart is in the right place." Beth smiled gently at Amp ruffling his blonde hair

"I was the first one she met, when I first saw her she was only 13, I still remember how small she was, and her scars and burns were brand new. I remember how she was unresponsive to anyone, and she seemed to be emotionless. A few days later she was beating up Ares kids and she already had her creepy power down. Sometimes I wonder is she even a human." Amp rolled his eyes

"None of us are human, Amp, we're demigods remember." Blondie reminded him poking the side of his temple

"I know, but I can't help but think that there's something more sinister in her plan and that she's not telling us the full truth." Amp furrowed his eyebrows with worry, thinking about this stuff gave him a headache

"The day Esmeralda tells the truth will be the day I eat bananas and like it. And you think I don't know there's something wrong with the plan? She told everyone of us different stories, she told you we were going to become true heroes and save the world from a great disaster, she told me we were going to make sure that the gods never fell in love with mortals and leave them again, who knows what else she told everyone? I'm pretty sure that we're the only ones who figured that there was something wrong with the plan, and that she never talked about it when we were all together. So we wait, wait and see how it all plays out, because I trust Esmeralda, I know her." Blondie sighed pulling at her braid frustrated, the truth is she like to fool herself to believe that she did know Esmeralda, the girl she called her best friend. She just couldn't wrap her mind around the idea that Esmeralda could be tricking them, could be tricking her.

"You're trying to hold on to that little girl you called your best friend not the real Esmeralda, you're fooling yourself, Beth." Amp whispered

Beth looked at him in surprise, in all the time she had known him he had only called her by her real name 3 times, this was one of them. "You really don't trust her do you?" she asked her tone bitter

"No, I don't, because I'm a realist and I'm not going to fool myself into believing that the girl who spoke to Ella and Alec tonight was the same girl we spoke to 5 years ago." Amp said stubbornly

Beth closed her eyes "I just really hope that whatever Esmeralda is doing it's not going to get her and us killed."

"Knowing her, we're probably all going to meet our tragic ends soon." Amp snorted

"Than I'll see you in the underworld." Blondie smiled sadly

* * *

><p>Esmeralda screamed frustrated slamming her fist against the mirror in her cabin, cracking and shattering her broken reflection. She huffed as blood poured out of her bandaged hand, she enjoyed the pain that started again. She watched as the blood dripped out of her cut hand like dew drops on roses, she thought.<p>

"My dear, why do you do that?" the soft stern voice of her _mother_ asked

"Mom." Esmeralda acknowledged not so much as blinking

"You should really stop bringing so much pain to yourself dear." Nyx drifted up to Esmeralda and pried her cut hand off the mirror, but for some reason Esmeralda had a feeling that Nyx wasn't talking about her bleeding hand "Does it hurt to know that you're lying to your friends?" Nyx asked her form shimmering like the night

Esmeralda scowled and found that her patience with the goddess was running very thin. "Everyone on this earth are pawns players in my game, I will use them to lure and trap the queen than I will take out the king."

"My daughter this is not what I taught you." Nyx frowned still holding Esmeralda's still bloody bandaged hand

"You taught me nothing, except how to apply cream onto my burns and scars." Esmeralda spat her voice filled with venom and hate

"You can't really blame me for the forest fire, or your father's death can you child?" Nyx asked her eyes widening dropping Esmeralda's hand which fell to her side limply

"I thought we passed that a long time ago." Esmeralda hissed

Nyx sighed "Very well you can blame me for everything but do not ruin those poor half-bloods with this insane plan of yours. Do not think for a second you will stand against the gods, as soon as they know I will no longer be able to protect you and you will die." Nyx whispered the word die as if it was the foulest and cruelest word

"I don't need protection, and death is what I've been waiting for all these years." Esmeralda spat at her mother

"If you don't care about death than surely your friends do, are you really just going to use them than toss them away? What about Beth! She's been there ever since you got here, she's the closest thing to a sister you have, are you really going to risk her life!" Nyx yelled furious at her daughter

Esmeralda set her jaw at this and did not reply, she stared at the window gazing at the night sky.

"Answer me my daughter! You are lying to all of those half-bloods, I understand that some of them are not your friends, but they trust you and look at you as their leader. DO NOT let them down!" Nyx reasoned with her child

Esmeralda smiled at this and looked at her mother in the eyes, and all she saw was emptiness and despair "Letting people down is what I do best!" she laughed at this as if she just told a great joke

"You don't understand what you are doing here, something is happening, something that will overshadow your plans, and you will have to choose, and you will choose wrong!" Nyx warned

"I hate you!" Esmeralda screamed putting her hands on her ears smearing her black hair with blood "Stop acting like you're superior, and that you know me, and you care! Go back to where you came from! Go!" she shrieked, she hated how her mom made her feel, like she was weak, like she was that same stupid, weak little girl that got bullied

"Think about my words, my dear." Nyx placed a quick kiss on Esmeralda's forehead and disappeared into the night, leaving her alone with nothing but her thoughts and the shadows of the cabin

**Okay that was confusing, so here is the chapter summary:**

**In this chapter it is revealed that Esmeralda is lying to her recruits telling each of them different stories about her plan. She successfully recruits Ella and Alec. Beth and Amp than have a conversation telling you that they know that Esmeralda is lying and that she is no longer the same person she used to be. We than visit Esmeralda as she talks with her mom, who tells her that her plan is unnatural and something terrible is going on, and she will have to make a choice. **

**The other seven main characters all belong to different authors, this is my SYOC story, and to be quite honest I have no idea what I'm going to be doing with this…**


End file.
